Name:

BKR

Student Number:

Subject Code:

EEB309

I interviewed my husband and my mother in law on their understanding of

wellness and wellbeing. My mother in law is 88 years old and has just come out
of hospital after a brain stroke. She has lost a small part of her memory and is
recovering. My husband has just returned from regional Australia after a few
months.
Questions asked:
i)
ii)
iii)
iv)

How would you define wellness and wellbeing?

Do you experience wellness and wellbeing in your life at present?
How do you achieve this? What is inhibiting you in achieving this?
What value do you think contemporary society places on wellness and
wellbeing?

Husband
i.

Wellness to my husband is about his physical health. He generally sees

this in the question that is asked informal greetings. How are you
keeping? How do you do? Hope you are well? It is about good nutrition,
physical fitness and not being ill (sick).
Wellbeing to him implies the mental, emotional, spiritual and
environmental state about his being and that of his family. This
includes a good environment at work and at home.

ii. Yes generally. Access to doctor and good medical services for his illness
is good. At work it has been stressful with the recent assignment.
Human relations tend to become violent in the verbal sense at work,
when time and deliveries are at a premium causing a lot of stress.
iii. He uses his engagements with spiritual societies and reading books to
de-stress. We also go out to short holidays and eat-outs.
iv.

As first generation migrants our families that include parents and

children are important collectively as a unit, for our wellbeing. Society
in general does perceive and put a high value on wellness i.e. good
health physically. But not enough is placed on the emotional wellbeing
of children and individuals in society. Besides the value and
importance is different for different age groups.

Interviews

Mother in Law
i.

She is recovering from a brain stroke and at 88 years wellness to her

means being able to move and do work without any hindrance of
course not as she used to in her younger days. But importantly for her
not be bed-ridden.

ii. Wellbeing to her means to see her children daily and happy. In their
happiness she is emotionally very happy and perceives this as her
wellbeing.
iii. Her age and physical health inhibit her from being well in the physical
sense. But because of the children and grandchildren around her she is
happy with her emotional and mental wellbeing.
iv. As she lives overseas, she perceives the value society places on the
wellness and wellbeing of families as a unit as significant, but often sees
the culture is such that the individual sacrifices his / her wellbeing for
the greater good of the family.

Interviews